Stung by the ability of Maoists to strike at will and effect major casualties, the Chhattisgarh Government has decided to impart jungle warfare training even to its forest department officials. The state has initiated a massive retraining programme in an effort to thwart an attack against forest department officials. Government sources informed that the training is being imparted to forest officials at the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare School in Kanker. Each batch will include 20 officials, and the first group of trainees has already been selected. Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare School, which was established in 2005, is capable of training over 3,000 police commandos annually. The school has trained over 2,500 security personnel from various Naxal-affected states so far. Speaking to The Indian Express, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police O P Rathor stated that by imparting anti-terrorism and jungle warfare training to these officials the government will be able to add to its resources. “As these officials are often in the firing line we have decided to impart them training to deal with the extremist threat,” Rathor stated. Forest employees, deployed in Naxalite-affected districts of Bastar, Kanker, Dantewara and Sarguja, became victims of Naxalite violence as they are seen as representatives of the government, he added. As part of this training, forest officials will be taught to fire latest weapons, how to defend an outpost, to fight off an ambush and seek help from other security personnel when they are in distress. “The government has made a decision to impart jungle warfare training to forest officials in an effort to make them less vulnerable to Naxalite attacks,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R N Mishra said.He pointed out that on several occasions Naxalites have also looted forest offices in remote areas. Once these officials are trained and deployed the government hopes to bring down such incidents. Around 44 per cent of Chhattisgarh is covered by dense forests, a large part of which is believed to be a stronghold of Maoist guerrillas. “This is a territory where the police have rarely ventured, so, there has been a new emphasis on training forest officials for jungle warfare as they are more aware of the local terrain and can also accompany security personnel during patrolling and special operations,” sources added.
